Illumination – Light source or light source support and luminescent material
Patent
1993-04-07
1995-03-14
Lazarus, Ira S.
Illumination
Light source or light source support and luminescent material
362431, 362812, 116 63R, F23B 900, G09F 1320
Patent
active
053981740
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a post for marking the verges of roads or traffic lanes.
Verge posts are used to enhance optical guidance along primarily non-illuminated traffic routes. Reflectors are placed on the posts, so that they can be seen in the stray light from dipped headlamps. In Sweden, these reflectors are positioned slightly higher from the road surface than the reflectors in the remainder of Europe, since the reflectors are then less likely to become covered with dirt. The reflectors are placed at a height of 750 mm above the road surface, and consequently only stray light will impinge on the reflectors when using dipped headlamps.
Reflectors which are turned to face towards bordering woodlands, so-called wildlife mirrors, are said to have a certain deterring effect on wildlife.
In Sweden, two round reflectors are used on the left side of the road and one rectangular reflector on the right side of the road, when the road is intended for two-way traffic. The reflectors are coloured white except at bus stops, road crossings, etc. Round reflectors cannot be distinguished from rectangular reflectors at short distances, and the public is unable to discern the difference between these reflectors. A number of countries position reflectors of mutually different colours on the right and the left side of a road. These reflectors cannot be distinguished one from the other by people who have defective colour vision.
It is difficult to judge the distance to a reflector, since the surface is small and the intensity of the light reflected by the reflector decreases with the square of the distance, whereas the light reflected from normal objects decreases with the distance raised to the power of four. The difficulties of judging distance cause verge posts to become highly confusing and tests have shown that they can also be directly misleading, particularly those posts which are positioned along curved and undulating roads.
The present invention provides a totally novel verge post which eliminates the drawbacks associated with known verge posts.
Thus, the-present invention relates to a verge post for marking road verges or the boundaries of traffic lanes, and is characterized in that the verge post is constructed to fluoresce when illuminated with ultraviolet light; and in that the post is constructed so that when illuminated with ultraviolet light from one direction, the post will transmit visible light in two or more directions.
The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to exemplifying embodiments thereof and also with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which
FIG. 1 illustrates a first side of an inventive post;
FIG. 2 illustrates a second side of an inventive post, the phantom lines showing an alternative additional strip as illustrated in the embodiments of FIGS. 3 and 4;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of part of the post shown in FIG. 2 according to a first embodiment, the view being taken on the line A--A in said Figure; and
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of part of a second embodiment taken on the line A--A in FIG. 2.
FIGS. 1 and 2 shows a verge post 1 from two different directions, said poet being intended to mark the verges of a road or the boundaries of traffic lanes. FIG. 1 illustrates a post which is intended to be mounted on the left side of the road, and FIG. 2 illustrates a post intended to be mounted on the right side of the road, as seen in the forward direction of the traffic. The posts are provided with visible light reflectors 2, 3, which are of mutually different configurations on respective sides 4, 5 of the posts.
According to the invention, the post is intended to fluoresce when illuminated with ultraviolet light, and is so constructed that when illuminated with ultraviolet light from one direction, the post will transmit visible light in two or more directions.
In recent years, strenuous efforts have been made to enable automotive vehicles, primarily cars, to be fitted with headlamps which emit ultraviolet light as a complement to conventional vis
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Continental Lithograph Corporation, Jun. 11, 1940.
Kurz Philip E.
Lazarus Ira S.
Quach Y.
Ultralux AB
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